USA: Cattle market overview for the 20th week of 2023

June CME futures rose 0.700 cents to 165.525 cents a pound, while benchmark August futures rose 0.500 cents to 163.625 cents.

The August feedstock contract jumped 3,350 cents to 234,500 cents a pound after hitting a contract high of 234,550 cents. Feeder futures rose as corn futures fell to a 19-month low, signaling lower feed costs.

Ahead of Friday's monthly USDA Cattle on Feed report, analysts polled by REUTERS on average expected the government to report U.S. feedlot cattle numbers as of May 1 at 96.5% year-over-year, or about 11.6 million heads. Analysts on average estimated April cattle placement at feedlots at 96.3% year-over-year and April cattle sales at 90.3% year-over-year.

“In general, the proposal looks very positive. Last Friday, the USDA estimated that US beef production will fall (in 2024) after falling this year. So supply-side relief is not expected any time soon,” said Doug Houghton, an analyst at Brock Associates.

The U.S. beef cow herd fell to its lowest level since 1962, according to the USDA in January, after a severe drought pushed up the cost of livestock feed.

The cattle futures market ended the last trading day of the week up 20-70 cents and close to weekly highs. October and February contracts reached new highs last week. Weekly wholesale prices rose $2 to approach $178.

WEEKLY CUT CHOICE COST

CATTLE SALES

Sale of livestock, heads

Average weight

Week 19

Week 20

Growth per week,%

Week 19

Week 20

Growth per week,%

Bulls (live weight)

29 569

17 186

-41.9%

1420

1402

-1.3%

Heifers (live weight)

10 317

6 696

-35.1%

1 294

1 295

0.1%

Bulls (slaughter. weight)

9 626

4 768

-50.5%

914

926

1.3%

Heifers (slaughter weight)

3 140

693

-77.9%

839

813

-3.1%

WEEKLY WEIGHTED AVERAGE PRICE OF BULLS

BEEF PRODUCTION

Index

Week 20

Week 19

20 week 2022

Growth per week,%

Growth per year, %

Slaughter volume

656 000

623 000

651 000

5.3%

0.8%

Live weight

1 354

1 357

1 357

-0.2%

-0.2%

slaughter weight

817

818

818

-0.1%

-0.1%

Beef production (million pounds)

526.5

508.5

531.9

3.5%

-1.0%

CME: Live Cattle Futures

Week 19

Week 20

Growth per week,%

June

164.40

165.73

0.8%

August

162.45

164.30

1.1%

October

166.15

168.45

1.4%

Futures for fattening cattle

May

205.48

206.28

0.4%

August

228.98

235.10

2.7%

September

231.98

237.95

2.6%

You can learn more about the state of the cattle market in the United States (cattle prices, beef prices by category, production dynamics) in the weekly reviews of the MEAT market in RUSSIA and in the world from Meatinfo.ru. Weekly reviews are available free of charge as part of a monthly meat analytics subscription. Russian markets.